Chapter 57: A Dead Woman Comes to Town.
"Man is the hardest animal to kill. If he gets away, he will come back to kill you." ~ Salvatore Maranzano.
Being Don isn't easy, I can tell you that for sure.
The next few days were thankfully free of incident. It seemed the Atlesian big wigs in Atlas were waiting to see how things were going before deciding on any moves. Sophia's contacts in Atlas were telling her that the meeting they had undergone had been inconclusive and that they abstained from taking a vote on the subject of what to do with Vale now that Roman was behind bars.
So far trying to deal with Roman's arrest on the legal front had been difficult to say the least and the hardest part was that there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. This was a situation that was left purely to the Family lawyers and even they were finding themselves being stonewalled.
I looked across my desk at Wenge Cochran, a dark skinned half Vacuan. He was one of a number of lawyers the Family kept around to help with any disputes that happened to actually reach court. Mostly he made sure members of the Family stayed far away from prison cells and from what Neo and others had told me he was quite skilled at it too. But whatever legal magic he had wasn't going to be enough to free Roman.
"I've compiled a list of attorneys in Atlas to hire." Wenge explained, dropping a stack of folders onto my desk for me to look over. I didn't know why he bothered, whatever legal qualifications these people had I wasn't the one to make judgments. But I accepted one of the folders and looked over it so I could pretend that I wasn't clueless.
"Are you sure you can't have Roman tried here in Vale?" I asked him.
"The council agreed to extradite Mr. Torchwick to Atlas." Wenge explained to me, taking a glass of gin off the desk and taking a sip of it. "My firm is making appeals but I don't have any hopes. Ironwood and the Atlas council are adamant that they want to hold the trial in Atlas."
Of course they were. In Atlas they could charge Roman for a whole mess of crimes they couldn't charge him with in Vale. But more than that it meant that Roman was certainly in danger of awaiting trial in some kind of Atlas prison where Atlesians would have all kinds of opportunities to assassinate him. Cinder promised to have Roman free before Ironwood flew his little fleet back to Atlas, but I was working to make sure we were prepared if she didn't live up to her promise. Which meant I needed to consult a lawyer who held a considerably steep fee.
"So who in this stack of folders has your eye?" I asked him as I closed one folder and opened another.
"A few, we hire multiple as consultants." Wenge explained to me. "But the real problem is that many of them will probably decline the case."
I nodded understanding his point. Any lawyer in Atlas willing to defend Roman in court was going to be in danger. Even if the Atlesians did decide not to pounce on us here in Vale they probably wouldn't pass up a chance to ensure that Roman stayed behind bars. If they didn't kill him with the swarms of convicts they had in the Atlesians prison system they could certainly use him as a bargaining chip which could be worse.
"Well start making calls." I told him. "Anyone that agrees will get personal protection for them and their families. Hire personal security teams if you must."
Wenge nodded to me and looked through his briefcase once more. "I have taken the liberty of looking for a few already."
"Good, I can see why the Family respects you so much." I said to him, I was sure that most normal lawyers don't usually have to worry about hiring personal security for their consultants.
"Thank you, Don Arc." Wenge told me.
"Acting Don." I corrected him, I was having to do that a lot.
"Forgive me, acting Don Arc." Wenge said with a friendly smile on his face.
I gave him a dismissive wave letting the slip go, just about everyone was calling me Don anyways. It didn't make sense for me to expect an associate who only worked for the Family in a mostly legal fashion to understand. For obvious reasons Wenge was only allowed to know our illegal dealings as they pertained to helping us when it came to court. We didn't tell him the finer details.
"How is Roman?" I asked him.
"The brig in that airship is pretty cramped." Wenge explained to me. "But tight quarters aside he is being treated ethically as the law demands. Though they're making it rather difficult for him to exercise his right to an attorney. I have to be vetted and take a bullhead up to that flagship just so I can talk."
"Has Roman told you anything?" I asked him.
Wenge shook his head. "We've only kept our discussion towards his arrest."
I nodded to him. I had hoped that Roman would maybe try to have some kind of message for me but that was asking for too much. Anything and everything he said would be heard by Ironwood. Besides, Roman had no idea what was happening on our end of things and that was safer for everyone in the end.
"Well… he knows our thoughts are with him." I said, more for my sake than for anyone else. I looked from Wenge to the corner of my office where Neo stood silent and still observing the meeting. It was hard to think that this one person who wasn't even a real member of the Family actually saw and spoke to Roman and we couldn't even relay messages through him. "When you see him next tell him his Family misses him dearly."
"I will do just that, acting Don Arc." Wenge told me with a reverent nod of his head. "Is that all for tonight?"
"There's little to discuss so yes. But don't hesitate to call me or my subordinates the minute there's a serious development." I told him, giving him a dismissive wave.
"Very well sir." Wenge told me before finishing his glass of gin and bidding me a polite farewell and stepping out of my office.
"That man has a law degree and is at least thirty years my senior." I said, leaning back in my chair and massaging my temples. "And he calls me sir."
"You're - his - boss - now." Neo told me, stepping away from her corner and leaning against the corner of my desk. "You - write - his - checks - now. What - do - you - expect - him - to - call - you?"
"I don't know." I told her. "But I'm not going to get used to this any time soon."
Aside from trying to give the Family lawyers some direction on their quest to make Atlas at least have to work to put Roman behind bars, my days were full of talking to the Capos and trying to give direction to the Family as every little piece of business was brought to me for approval.
Years of being a hands-on micromanager had made it so the Capos usually consulted Roman for major business decisions and there was plenty to go around. Be it Tony's union being on the verge of going on strike, two of the local gangs under our employ having a grievance needing to be resolved or a laundering business being under investigation I was asked to give my two fucking cents.
The fact of the matter was I hardly had time to worry about Nicky or those Atlesian big wigs making a move because I was so busy making sure the Family continued to run smoothly. And there was no movement from Cinder's end of things. Since her threatening little meeting in my apartment I had only gotten one word from her. A single scroll call ordering me to try and keep things quiet in the underworld, like I wasn't trying to keep things simple and quiet to begin with. So far my time sitting at the head of the table was all about the humdrum day to day management. It was hardly the exciting intrigue of planning hits and meeting with local politicians for favors like I had expected it to be.
"Don't - forget - our - date - tonight." Neo told me with a worried expression on her face before tapping her wrist to emphasize that we had a reservation to get to in an hour or so.
"I haven't forgotten." I assured her. "I just have a couple more meetings before I'm done for the night."
"Who - with?" Neo asked me.
"Some restaurant union representatives and some Vacuan club owners. I think he wants in on those Atleisan clubs we're invested in." I explained to her.
"Tell - them - to - come - back - tomorrow." Neo told me.
I shook my head at her. "It shouldn't take much longer, besides they've been waiting for hours, I don't want to be rude."
"You're - the - Don - dummy." Neo told me. "If - you - tell - them - to - come - back - tomorrow - they - will."
"Acting Don." I corrected her with a sigh, I was getting sick of reminding people that I did not see myself as Roman's replacement or equal.
"You - think - that - fucking - means - anything - to - them?" Neo asked me. "That - hardly - means - anything - to - us - in - the - Family. It - doesn't - make - a - difference - to - those - normal - bastards. You're - the - one - with - all - the - money - and - power - now."
She had a point. Fact was I had become a person whose time was incredibly valuable. That union representative was probably going to want the Family to provide support as the union started demanding better overtime wages, with the festival here and the city bursting with tourists all the local hotels and restaurants were bursting with people and since few of the establishments were bothering to hire temporary staff many of the employees were working overtime and both the mob and the union were now thinking about renegotiating those overtime wages for union members. Which also meant the mob would be collecting some of that extra money.
As nice as it would have been to punch the proverbial clock and give myself the rest of the night off I couldn't.
"That's exactly why I feel I shouldn't tell them to come back tomorrow." I told her. "I need these people to feel confident that I have their best interests in mind, that I'm going to give them the time of day. Otherwise they might start thinking they want someone else to have all that money and power."
Neo gave me a little smile, she could at least see that I was taking Roman's responsibilities seriously. "That's - all - well - and - good - Jaune - but - you're - no - good - to - the - Family - frayed. You've - been - working - since - before - dawn. And - Roman - never - gave - his - time - to - just - anyone. If - you - don't - value - your - time - these - assholes - certainly - won't."
Indeed I had been working from sunrise to after sunset. There were a million facets to the Family and I was trying to give them all their due. Roman's hat rested on my head like a heavy crown. Sometimes I really did feel like a king sitting on a throne waiting for subjects to come to me with every little problem and grievance. And it was fucking borning most of the time.
"I'll just meet with the union representative." I told Neo, deciding to heed her words and finding a compromise. "If I'm right about that Vacuan he'll probably come to us with a better offer."
Neo nodded in agreement. "I'll - tell - Cardin - to - show - that - guy - the - door." She told me, pulling her scroll from her pocket and started to text.
"Alright… now let's finish this last one." I told her, ready to finish up and actually enjoy our date.
Cardin came in to tell me he told the Vacuan to come back tomorrow and let the union rep in and we discussed our bottom line with negotiations and how we intended to conduct a strike if things came to that. Not that we were expecting the restaurants and hotels to put up much of a fight. A citywide strike during the Vytal festival would be unacceptable.
With the final meeting finished we left for my apartment so we could change into something a little more formal for our date. We went up to my bedroom where I had one of my nicer black tuxedos already ready for the evening along with a bowtie that I was still more than a little clumsy tying.
"What - ballet - is - playing - tonight?" Neo asked me before noticing some minute detail wrong with her dress in the mirror moving to correct it.
"The Firebird." I told her, pleased that we were able to try seeing the Atlesian Ballet Troupe perform again without the threat of Nicky spoiling the evening. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about it but I was told it was one of their best performances."
Neo gave a noncommittal nod as she raised the skirt of her dress and adjusted her garter. I continued to fumble with the bowtie, it was only my second time wearing one and if I wasn't determined to have this night go off without a hitch I'd toss the damn thing away. Catching glances of Neo adjusting the straps of her garters certainly wasn't helping me focus on the fiddly little thing.
My scroll started to ring on my bed and happy to find a temporary distraction from the stupid tie I turned and picked it up seeing that it was Bruce "Pearly" White calling me. It probably meant that it was business related and as much as I wanted to pretend that I was off the clock I knew better than to assume that a call from a caporegime was inconsequential.
"Hello Pearly." I greeted when the scroll was against my ear. "What can I do for you."
"Acting Don Arc." Bruce greeted me. "I hope I am not disturbing you, but there is an urgent matter that requires your attention."
I frowned at that and looked to Neo who had finished priming herself and moved to me to help with my bowtie offering a more skilled hand. "I'm afraid I was just about to go out for the evening… what's going on?"
"I don't think this should be spoken on a scroll call. But I need you to come to my office on the docks." He explained to me. "And it is of the utmost importance, I would not bother you like this unless it was."
For a second I considered asking him if it was possible to send Cardin or a close subordinate would be acceptable but I knew it wouldn't be. Bruce was a caporegime after all, if he wasn't fit to handle whatever this was himself then no one else would really do.
Neo finished tying my bowtie and took a step back but remained close. "It's - fine. We'll - go - out - later."
"We miss dinner." I told her with a low whisper. "But we'll try to make the ballet." I was determined to do that and save our date night as best we could. Assuming whatever Bruce wanted from me didn't take too long.
"I'll be there in twenty minutes." I told Bruce.
"I'll be waiting for you, boss." Bruce told me before I hung up and proceeded to grab Roman's hat and place it on my head along with taking up my cane. I looked at the two of us dressed in our formal attire thinking we both made quite a pair and hoping whatever business Bruce needed me to attend to wouldn't be messy.
"What could Bruce possibly need that's so urgent?" I asked her as I approached the door.
Neo's bare shoulders rose and fell with a shrug as she moved over to the corner of the room grabbing a fur stole she had chosen to go with her dress for the evening. Summer was ending now and the pleasant coolness of fall was upon us.
We stepped out of my room and to the living room where Cardin was waiting to act as our chauffeur and bodyguard.
"There's a change of plans, we have some business first. With Bruce at the docks." I explained to him.
"Business?" Cardin asked me with a raised eyebrow. "What kind of business?"
"Bruce wouldn't say, but he assured me that it was urgent." I told him. "We're probably going to go straight to the theater after this and have dinner afterwards. I'll change our reservation, they should allow it, being the boss should have some perks after all."
"Hold on… we're going to the docks to meet Bruce? I'll call the rest of the crew." Cardin told me.
"That shouldn't be necessary." I told Cardin.
"I think it is." Cardin told me with a look. "Bruce calls you up out of nowhere, tells you to race over to his place, and he can't tell you why? That's a perfect scenario to assassinate you."
"Bruce wouldn't assassinate me." I said to Cardin with a chuckle but the firm look in Cardin's eyes told me he was dead serious about his statement.
"Don't trust anyone Jaune." Cardin told me.
"That's ridiculous." I told him dismissively. "I trust you, I trust Neo and our crew. I wouldn't get anything done if I didn't trust people."
"You know what I mean." Cardin told me. "These Capos, you can't think of them as your friends. Anyone of them could be looking to get rid of you. Especially the ones who are friendly with you. Say what you will about Victor Stracci at least he's bad at hiding the fact that he fucking hates you."
Cardin did have a point. I couldn't look at everyone in the Family as a potential usurper but it was a bitter reminder that people moved up in the life in such ways and currently with me sitting at the top there was no shortage of people that could want me knocked off. Even though I didn't believe Bruce was the type to put a knife in my back it meant I couldn't rule out the possibility.
"Alright." I agreed. "Have them meet us there."
"Thanks, I'll be able to relax easier knowing there's a few extra guns with us." Cardin told me as he pulled out his phone to tell my crew to drop what they were doing and to drive out to the docks.
In little time Cardin was driving the two of us towards the docks late in the middle of the night. We arrived a little early so we waited for a little bit before my crew arrived in their separate vehicles. When they parked we got out and walked up onto the docks.
Deery and Russel looked at Neo I up and down. Myself in a tuxedo and her in an evening gown. "Woah, you two are dressed to the nines." Deery commented to us as we walked towards Bruce's office.
"We're supposed to be having a date." I told her as we continued to walk. Neo's heels clicked as she walked alongside me towards Bruce's office located in the central warehouse on the docks. I could already see one of his guys waiting outside giving us a casual look. "And I'm hoping to finish this quickly and actually start it."
Neo nodded in agreement as we stepped towards the door being guarded by some wiseguy I didn't know.
"Good evening Don Arc." He greeted me with a bow. "Mr. White is inside waiting for you."
"Thank you." I said, motioning for him to let me in and not correcting him for calling me Don Arc. I'd let him have that one at least.
The wiseguy opened the door and we shuffled inside, finding Bruce waiting for us looking anxious. One look at Neo and I dressed up as we were. He clearly understood that he had interrupted something.
"Thank you for coming acting Don Arc." Bruce said to me, crossing his arms over his chest. "I am afraid this really couldn't wait."
"And what exactly is so pressing Bruce?" I asked him. "I've been wondering the whole drive over what couldn't possibly wait for tomorrow."
Bruce reached behind his head and scratched his salt and pepper hair. "It's not every day that I see a dead woman walk onto my docks."
I blinked, not understanding what he really meant by that. "What are you talking about?"
"Here let's go up to my office, I'll start from the beginning." He told me to turn to lead me through the warehouse and up the metal stairs where his personal office could survey everything. I gave the windows a look, finding the blinds closed.
"So tonight we offloaded some Mistrali immigrants." Bruce explained to me.
By immigrants he meant people that he smuggled in through the docks. Sometimes it was people too poor to enter the kingdom legally, others had some reason or another why they couldn't just catch an airship here to Vale. But they all paid for their passage one way or another and some of them were funneled into jobs we controlled where they could work off the books and free from taxes. Others occasionally even went to work for the Clan in one way or another.
I nodded in understanding.
"Alright, so one of these immigrants was a woman you thought to be dead?" I asked him, piecing it together easily enough.
"Not just me." Bruce said as we ascended the metal steps together. I held Neo's hand as she ascended even though she seemed perfectly balanced in those heels. "The whole world thinks she's dead and I'm not exactly sure what we should do with her."
"So who is she?" I asked him as we reached the top of the stairs.
Bruce ignored my question for a second and grabbed the doorknob for his office and opened it for me to see.
Inside two people sat in front of the desk. They had already turned to see us arrive. The first person was a man I took a second to recognize but who clearly recognized me by his wide eyed stare. He was tall and broad shouldered with black hair and a scraggly beard. The last time I saw him his facial hair had been cut into stylish sideburns. Tukson, from Tukson's Book Trade, a man I had been tasked to kill but had instead let escape.
The woman was someone I'd never seen before. Dark hair and a pair of cat ears atop her head, darker tiger stripes adorned her dark skin with a red gem adorning her forehead. She was dressed in simple clothes that clearly hadn't been laundered in some time and she looked like she was desperate for a shower. Despite her disheveled appearance she held herself up straight and had a proud and calculating look in her eyes.
"Mr. Arc, I'd like to introduce you to Sienna Khan. Former high leader of the White Fang." Bruce said, introducing me.
"Holy shit!" Deery exclaimed behind me in a whisper.
"I am the rightful leader of the White Fang!" Sienna said, her voice full of conviction. "And is this the human you work for Bruce? I expected someone a little bit older at the very least."
"My lady, this young man is the one I told you about." Tukson said, acting reverently towards her and lowering his head as he spoke. "The one who apparently pretended to attempt to kill me but arranged for that huntress to save me."
Coco had mentioned something about telling Tukson the truth and apparently now it was coming back to potentially help me in a way I never expected.
I stepped inside and walked right to Sienna Khan and offered her my hand. "Hello Miss Khan, my name is Jaune Arc, acting Don of the Torchwick Crime Family."
Sienna looked at my hand for a second, almost seeming to consider snubbing me but instead took it and gave a firm shake. It was a respectful grip, not the grip of someone trying to intimidate but the grip of someone saying they were not going to be intimidated.
"Acting Don?" Sienna asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Haven't you heard?" Bruce asked her. "Roman got arrested… Jaune here was his chosen successor but remains adamant that Roman will return in due time."
Sienna scowled. "I don't exactly get the news when I'm stuffed into a cargo container with twelve other people coming here. And I was hoping you could help me talk to Roman Torchwick… so I suppose it was all for nothing."
"You should consider yourself lucky to be talking to Jaune here." Bruce told her in a gravely serious tone. "Roman would probably call Adam here so Adam could kill you himself and owe him one. And to be honest, I'm thinking about that myself."
Sienna's eyes narrowed and she looked from Bruce to me. "Well then… I suppose we have a lot to talk about Mr. Arc."
I nodded to her. "How about we all sit down?" I suggested.
"Let's." Sienna agreed.
I stepped away and moved around Bruce's desk to take a seat behind it as was my right as acting Don. I seated myself and noticed that Bruce had a sawed off shotgun on a swivel underneath the desk, that I found quite interesting.
Cardin and Neo stepped inside and closed the door leaving the rest of my crew outside. They weren't made yet so they knew it was their place to sit out the more serious business talks, though knowing that Sienaa Khan was alive was certainly knowledge above the pay grade of most Family members. Good thing they were going to be made in a couple days.
"I thought that was your desk." Sienna commented as I took my time to pull out a cigar and cut the end. I started to believe that one reason Roman always lit up a cigar when he was in a meeting was it gave him a second to think and I certainly had a lot to think about.
"Jaune is acting Don, meaning he gets to sit wherever he wants." Bruce told her. "You got yourself a fucking throne room so I know you understand how it works."
"Do you really prefer to bow and scrape to humans?" Sienna asked him with evident bitterness in her tone.
"I don't bow or scrape." Bruce told her. "I'm a respected member of the Family and I honor what that means."
"You used to honor the Fang." Sienna told him contemptuously. I lit my cigar and decided to let the two of them continue on as I had my first few puffs. I figured the more Sienna talked then the more I could understand and make a better decision.
"That was a long time ago." Bruce said to her.
"Five years isn't that long." Sienna told him.
"Well it's ancient fucking history to me. The minute Ghira was out, I was out." Bruce told her, puffing his chest out with pride. "You turned our once beautiful thing into a pack of terrorists."
"We were already labeled as terrorists!" Sienna defended.
"AND YOU FUCKING PROVED THEM RIGHT!" Bruce shouted.
"Quiet, please." I said trying to remain calm and stop the two of them from arguing.
Sienna looked from Bruce to me. "Did you know old Bruce here used to work for us, he used his position here in your little Family to raise funds for our revolution."
"I'm aware of Bruce's history with the White Fang." I told her. I did know a little about that but Bruce had never given me the details and I never asked. But I did wonder if it had something to do with why Cinder and Adam had come to the Family with their little deal. "I'm not interested in the past at the moment, I'm interested in the here and now. Please Miss Khan… tell me why you've come to Vale. Last I heard you were supposed to be dead and Adam took your place."
"That bastard is a usurper!" Sienna hissed. "He tried to have me assassionated, he thinks that little bomb of his did the trick but thanks to Tukson here I was able to stay one step ahead of him."
"So if I hadn't let Tukson get away then you wouldn't be here right now." I mused, realizing that my little act of mercy is precisely why I was having this conversation.
Her eyes narrowed at me. "Don't pretend that you did me a favor, you had no idea what was going on."
"I'm not pretending I did anything for you." I admitted to her. "I only arranged for Tukson's escape because the idea of killing one of Adam's renegades put a bad taste in my mouth."
"An act for which I am grateful." Tukson said, bowing his head to me.
"You can keep your gratitude." I told him. "Because Bruce here has a point, I'm having to deal with Adam and I can tell you he doesn't like me very much. Especially because he found out about my little act of mercy. Offering the two of you up would probably earn me some gratitude, and right now his gratitude seems more valuable."
"Adam doesn't believe in gratitude, only grudges." Sienna told me.
I pondered that and actually chuckled. "On that I think we can agree on." I told her.
"You can't trust Adam." Sienna told me.
"I don't." I told her.
"So help me." Sienna said, it almost sounded like a plea. She was here at the end of her rope and she knew it. And as much as she probably loathed it she understood that I was her best hope, that I held her life in my hands.
Having power over another person's ultimate fate is not something I really like but here I was with the power of life and death. "Help you do what?" I asked her, leaning back in Bruce's chair, it was a little big for me personally but I did my best to at least look like I was comfortable sitting here. Sienna was a terrorist after all, I couldn't let her feel that I was weak or sympathetic to her or her cause. As much as I hated Adam, I understood him, Sienna was an unknown.
"Take back the White Fang." Sienna told me. "I came here because Adam is here, because as much as Bruce here might despise me I know he would prefer my way of doing things far more than Adam's. That when he knew what he was planning he would have to understand."
Take back the White Fang? I didn't even know if it was possible. Perhaps if this wasn't Vale where Adam had cemented his power it could be done with a simple assassionation but here I wasn't sure. Adam was the White Fang here in Vale as far as I understood it. But I could focus on the how later, there were other things I had to know first before I started planning a coup.
"What is Adam planning?" I asked her.
"He's going to destroy this city, the whole kingdom if he can." Sienna told me grimly.
I blinked at that. "Destroy it?"
She nodded. "He was approached by some benefactor that claimed to be sympathetic to our cause, they offered him funding, weapons, everything he could need to make this a city a war zone and leave the scraps for the grimm. He's going to destroy everything, you included."
"Are you fucking kidding?" Cardin asked, from behind Sienna, speaking up for the first time. "Why would he do that? There's faunus that live here too, they'd be grimm chow same as the everyone else. That's too crazy even for him."
"Adam doesn't care." Sienna answered him. "As far as he's concerned any faunus that haven't joined in his crusade are slaves to a system he wants to burn down. Maybe when everything is ashes he'll try to shift through them for anyone willing to be salvaged."
For a second I wanted to believe that she was bullshitting me. The idea of Adam and his ragtag soldiers bringing this city down was crazy but the more I thought about how they had loosed those grimm in the city the more it made sense. This wasn't about making small attacks followed by demands or any shit like that. Adam and Cinder were playing for keeps, they were going to burn it all down.
"This benefactor, what's their deal? Who's Cinder?" I asked her, needing to know more now that I was actually talking to someone who actually had some fucking answers on what was going on and what they were actually doing.
"So you know about her?" Sienna asked me.
"I've met her a few times. So far she's been keeping me in the dark about everything and I've been stuck helping her get weapons for Adam because I can't afford to find out what she'll do if I say no." I explained to her.
"I haven't met her myself but Adam did report on her. I allowed him to accept her assistance but I had no idea she was planning to do something like this until Tukson here reported to me, but by then it was too late."
"Was it?" Bruce asked her. "From where I'm standing it looks like Adam slipped his leash a long time ago."
"I will admit that Adam… Adam was a mistake." Sienna admitted to us. "He was someone who believed in me and I thought I could direct his rage and anger but I admit it got out of control. I should have tamed him a long time ago."
"That's clear to see but I'm not interested in dwelling on mistakes." I told her. "I want to know who Cinder really is and who she's working for."
"I don't know that I'm afraid." Sienna told me. "Adam said they had contacts and money and that they were willing to share them with us."
"You didn't find that suspicious?" I asked her.
"Of course I did." Sienna told me. "But such things cannot be easily turned down in my line of work, especially since our means of acquiring capital are limited." She added that last part, giving Bruce a glance. "I figured helping Adam with his efforts here in Vale to be a test to see if we could work together in the future."
"So I'm guessing you're not happy about their services." I commented dryly.
"No." Sienna told me. "I intend to make them pay for everything they've done."
I nodded. I was still undecided on what to do with her. Just because she was the enemy of my enemy didn't mean she was my friend, she was still the leader of the White Fang, an organization I would ideally see removed from the face of Remnant.
"Help me." Sienna told me. "Help me take back the White Fang, we'll give Adam and that bitch Cinder what they deserve and I promise you I shall be your ally Jaune Arc. The Fang will never trouble you again."
"How do you intend on doing that?" I asked her.
"Adam claimed I was killed by humans, he branded me a martyr to the cause. He did that because he knows his ranks are still swollen with those who owe their allegiance to me."
"Everyone in the Fang fears Adam." Bruce told her. "I think you overestimate how much loyalty you have with them."
"Loyalty is stronger than fear." Sienna said confidently. "Adam is a violent radical."
"And you're not?" Cardin asked her.
"Cardin." I said, scolding him just a little bit but Sienna waved her hand to show that there was no offense.
"No, I can understand why you would ask me that. I joined the Fang and followed Ghira Belladonna because I wanted greater justice for my people. But after years of watching us struggle with his nonviolent ways I realized that the only thing that would actually work was violence. Perhaps that does make me a radical, but I am not like Adam, I shed blood with purpose. Bruce can say what he will of the Fang under my command but I have never engaged in wholesale slaughter. I am asking you to put things right for both of your benefits. I will not beg you Mr. Arc, Sienna Khan is the White Fang and the White Fang does not beg for anything from humans. I ask you to only do what is pragmatic for us both."
I looked over to Bruce. "What do you think of that speech, Pearly?"
Bruce looked from me to Sienna and stood up from his chair.
"Back when Ghira Belladonna was running the show things were different." Bruce explained to me. "Things got a little ugly from time to time but he ran a clean operation. I helped arrange union strikes and boycotts and for the longest time SDC products were only trickling through these docks. Back then balancing my loyalty to the Fang and my loyalty to the Family was no problem. Back then there was power and respect. But even before Ghira stepped down things were starting to change as we broke away from his ideals. People stopped wanting to do business with us, so the SDC hired goon squads to threaten our union reps. It's why I left when Sienna here took power."
It was hardly a ringing endorsement of Sienna's character. But it was interesting to get an understanding of Bruce's departure from the Fang all those years ago. I really wish I could have introduced Blake to him, they would probably have a lot to talk about given the opportunity. And the name Ghira Belladonna didn't escape my notice, I wondered if there was a connection to Blake.
"But I will say this." Bruce continued on. "Even though I have never seen eye to eye with Sienna Khan and her path of blood, she is no liar and she is nothing like Adam and I know that despite her questionable methods she does want what is best for our people. Whatever lies in the future of the Fang I know I would rather see Sienna at the helm than Adam. And that is all I have to say about that."
I tapped off the ash from my cigar and took a long puff as I pondered things. Giving Sienna to Adam could at least help bring me a little good will, however temporary. And considering that I was planning to stab Adam in the back it seemed like a win win. I could potentially leave the White Fang fractured and broken, but that could be just as much of a problem. A bunch of heavily armed radical faunus with no one to hold the leash was a recipe for disaster. But putting those armed radicals in the hand on this woman wasn't something I could just allow either. Trading one threat for another potential threat wasn't wise.
I looked up at Neo and met her eyes that looked calm and trusting. "What - do - you - think?" I asked her in sign.
"If - you - decide - to - use - her - I - suggest - putting - some - kind - of - leash - on - her." Neo told me.
I nodded seeing her point. I couldn't trust Sienna Khan unless there was some kind of insurance that things would be different once Adam was in the ground. But as I put my hand in my pocket to grab my good luck ring I realized I had a pretty damn good insurance policy right here.
"I'll help you." I told Sienna. "But I have a condition, and it's non negotiable."
"And what is that?" Sienna asked me.
"When Adam is dead and you're returned to power, your first decree is to give control of the Vale branch to Bruce."
"What!?" Both of them said at the same time.
"The Fang here in Vale is well armed and ready for war. How can I trust that you won't turn those weapons on us once you've been returned to power?" I asked her. "And what assurance do I have that the White Fang will honor future alliances. Your goal is revolution, not business."
"You trust me to work the Vale branch of the Fang while I'm in the Family?" Bruce asked me with a raised eyebrow.
"You said it yourself. There was no problem balancing your loyalties back in the day. I'd like the future of the Vale Branch to be like that once more, and I know you'll keep it that way." I explained to him and looked back at Sienna. "This measure will hopefully be temporary but until the Fang surrenders their arms or leaves Vale I cannot trust them not to bring war to my city once more."
"I have a condition of my own then." Sienna told me. "I will agree to this if Bruce agrees to appoint Tukson as his second in command. I am still the leader of the White Fang and I will not have the power of the Vale branch completely stripped away from me."
I looked at Bruce. I could have easily agreed to that term myself. It was reasonable but I felt it would be better if I let Bruce have a say in that matter. He would be the one to work with Tukson in the future after all. "What do you think Bruce? Is that agreeable to you?"
"It is." Bruce told me. "So long as there is no confusion as to who commands the Vale branch."
"I also find this agreeable." Tukson said with a bow of his head. "I assure you Mr. White I want only harmony between us, a return to the old ways is my desire as well."
I nodded. "Then we have reached an accord, I will help you Sienna Khan. With clever planning, a subtle hand and a little luck we can hopefully take the White Fang back for you."
She nodded to me. "Very well… if we are to start I need to start locating potential sympathizers to my cause as well as start targeting and eliminating Adam's top officers."
I thought about that for a second. I didn't know of anyone in the White Fang who was openly opposed to Adam but I had a good idea where I would start. The other part was something I couldn't do.
"Assassinations?" I asked her. "I think you've forgotten the part where the White Fang is heavily armed and Adam is itching to play pin the katana on the mob boss. If I start putting out hits on his officers he's going to start targeting any potential enemies who could have arranged it. And I'm pretty sure I'm close to the top of Adam's list of enemies."
"So what do you suggest?" Sienna asked, sounding skeptical of my protests. "This is a fight that cannot be won without bloodshed."
"I understand that, but I believe in staying one's blade until the time is right." I explained to her. "I've been trying to gain information on Adam so I would know the perfect opportunity to stop him."
"You didn't even know what he was truly planning." Sienna told me.
"No… but if we can quietly gather sympathizers to your side we can learn more." I explained to her. "And then we can figure out the best time to strike. I don't even know where Adam is keeping the bulk of his forces or how he's planning to destroy the city now that his little grimm tunnel is sealed. Even if we could magic a bomb under Adam's bed right now it wouldn't stop Cinder from appointing some idiot to take his place and carry on."
"Alright." Sienna said, agreeing with my plan for the moment. "Do you or Bruce have anyone in mind as far as sympathizers?"
"I have one in mind. A guy named George, I don't know if he's exactly one of your loyalists but he's at least friendly with me and he's been through some shit thanks to Adam and his like minded friends. It's not much but it's a place to start at least, he might be able to locate more of your loyalists for you."
"And what happens if he isn't the kind of person you think he is?" Sienna asked me.
"Then I'll make him disappear before he can sound the alarm to Adam." I told her.
She nodded agreeing with my plans. "Very well."
"I suppose that concludes our business for the evening at least." I told her, snubbing my cigar out in the ashtran and standing up to leave.
"There is one thing I believe we still need to discuss." Sienna told me. "Where am I going to stay? I can't simply find a hotel, I'm supposed to be dead after all and for the moment it is advantageous if it is kept that way."
She had a point. Aside from having a roof over her head she needed food and clean clothes and I could guess that she didn't have a lot in the way of laundry. What's more it would probably be wise to keep some eyes on her. The problem was sticking her just anywhere was a potential risk, but I knew one place where Adam and Cinder didn't have eyes to pry into our affairs and even if they tried it would be easy enough to spot them coming.
I looked over to Neo. "What about sending them to the estate?" I asked her. That would mean occasionally sharing a roof with her but it wouldn't look too suspicious if anyone caught me or my crew members going there. It was also a ways away from Vale and with Gretchen attending to them it meant I had a loyal permanent spy looking after the two of them at all times.
"Really?" She asked me with a bit of an annoyed look on her face.
"Do you have someplace better in mind?" I asked her.
Neo thought about it for a second but instead shook her head. "Just - be - sure - she - minds - her - manners."
I nodded to her and turned to Cardin. "Bring the crew in." I asked him.
Cardin nodded and opened the door. "Everyone inside." He told them.
Russel, Deery and the rest quietly stuffed inside to await orders. I stepped out from behind the desk and reached into my pocket for a few rolls of cash approaching them. "Russel, Deery, I want you to take Miss Khan here and escort her back to the estate. Explain to Gretchen that she is our guest indefinitely and to make her feel welcome." I told them, handing over the cash. "Then I want the two of you to go and buy our guests here some decent clothes."
I looked over to Sienna and Tuskon. "Tell them if you need anything and they'll get it for you, Deery here used to be in the White Fang with Adam."
"Really?" Sienna asked her. "Tell me, why did you leave?"
"I didn't leave." Deery answered her, she reached down and clasped Russel's hand. "Adam kicked me out when he learned that Russel here was my boyfriend."
A look of genuine sympathy crossed Sienna's face as she looked at the two of them. She at least didn't seem to have any problem with faunus and humans having romantic relationships. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"I'm not." Deery told her confidently.
Sienna gave a nod to show that she understood and I was pleased to see Deery make a show of loyalty. I figured having another faunus escorting her and Tukson would make them feel a little at ease but it was nice to hear Deery affirm where her real loyalties lied.
"What about us boss?" Dove and Sky asked me.
"I want you to follow them in a second car and make sure no one tails them. If you think anyone is watching them I expect you to take care of it, not one can know they're here or that they're alive." I told them. Perhaps sending all four of them was overkill but right now Sienna was an ace I need to keep up my sleeve and I'd rather be careful escorting her.
They both nodded. "Got it, they'll be secret and safe." Russel promised me.
"And what are you going to do Mr. Arc?" Sienna asked me.
"Tonight?" I asked her. "I have a date at the ballet." I told her.
An amused smirk curled her lips and she looked from me to Neo and I. "And here I was thinking you Valeans just liked to overdress."
I smiled at her and moved to the door so I would leave first. "I'll arrange that meeting with George but it might take a day or more to put together. Adam probably won't be happy if he hears that I'm meeting with one of his soldiers behind his back. But I'll meet with you again tomorrow night at the very latest. We can assess our situation and plan more thoroughly then"
"Very well… I look forward to our next meeting Mr. Arc. I am sure we will have a lot to talk about." Sienna told me.
"We'll have many more opportunities to talk." I told her. "We're going to be sharing a house after all."
With that I turned and walked out the door with Neo by my side. Bruce followed me as we left Sienna and Tukson behind with my crew so we could talk away from them.
"I trust you have plans to keep this meeting under wraps?" I asked Bruce.
"Only I and a couple of my trusted lieutenants know about this." Bruce assured me. "And don't worry about them keeping quiet, they hate Adam just as much as I do."
"Good." I said to him. "I might call on them to help manage this affair, the less people know the better.
"They're at your service, acting Don Arc." Bruce said to me.
"Thank you for calling me tonight." I said to him, happy to have Bruce trusting me to make the right decision when it came to all of this.
"To be honest I debated if I should call you. I'm not sure Roman would be making this call if he was in your place." Bruce explained to me.
He was probably right. Roman would more than likely hand Sienna over, but Roman had a plan and right now I had to make one up with what I had on hand. And that meant Sienna Khan.
"And what do you think about what I'm doing?" I asked Bruce.
"Honestly? I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. I am certainly not a fan of being a branch manager for the White Fang."
"I'm sorry about that but I needed some kind of leverage and I didn't have time to consult with you." I explained to him. I was at least happy that Bruce was voicing his doubts and worries, the last thing I wanted was everyone saying yes sir to every decision. I was fine with the Capos questioning me so long as they ultimately obeyed.
"Don't apologize, it's a good idea." Bruce said to me. "If you had hesitated with a demand like that Sienna would have smelled weakness and refused. But you must understand that if and when I assume those duties things could easily get awkward between us."
"That's why I need it to be you." I assured Bruce. "You left the Fang on principle, I know you will uphold those principles."
"Thank you… I won't disappoint you." Bruce assured me.
Cardin, Neo and I left the warehouse and walked back to the car, getting in and taking off to get back to our date. I settled into the back seat and released a sigh. "Well… that was certainly unexpected." I said idly, getting a nod from Neo.
"At - least - our - date - wasn't - interrupted - for - nothing." Neo signed to me.
"Are you sure about this?" Cardin asked me. "Because from where I'm standing that woman hardly seems better than Adam. She could be worse for all we know."
"I'm not sure about anything at the moment, Cardin." I told him. "But right now I have one person who might be able to steal control of the Fang right out from under Adam and that means I have to take this chance."
"You know Adam isn't going to let that happen without a fight." Cardin told me.
"No, but maybe Sienna can let the bulk of that fight be Fang vs Fang instead of the Fang vs all of us." I told him voicing my thoughts on the matter.
"Is that what you're planning?" Cardin asked me.
"At the moment no, but it's a contingency I'm willing to explore if this doesn't play out like I'm hoping. At the moment I'm shooting straight with Miss Khan and if things go right it's possible that if things got really ugly I wouldn't even have to worry about the state of the Fang after Adam has been dealt with, they could fight each other until there was nothing left but scraps." But I was hoping to avoid that, convenient as it would be; it would leave Vale with more collateral damage than I was comfortable with.
"So you really plan on talking to that dog eared loser about Sienna?" Cardin asked me.
"I plan on getting George alone and having Sienna talk to him, yes. I'll leave the details of the recruitment speech to Sienna, she's probably good at that kind of thing." I told him. "Do you think you can arrange for us to talk to George alone?"
"I have an idea, he's still working in the city so I could have him tailed and grab him while no one is looking." Cardin told me.
"Do you really have to nab him off the streets?" I asked Cardin.
"If we ask him nicely he might tell Adam or someone." Cardin told me. "And if he snubs Sienna then it means we can handle him then and there. It'll look like he went out one day and never came back. Gods willing Adam will just assume that he ran away and will chase his fucking tail to find him."
"Alright. Find a good moment to throw a black bag over his head and we'll meet with him." I told Cardin as we left the dock district and found our way into the downtown area.
"Just give me a bit and I'll have it done." Cardin said. "And if you and Neo are going to be sharing a roof with that bitch then I am too."
"That's not necessary." I assured Cardin. "Sienna isn't going to try and wack me, not right now anyways."
"Yeah well, I'll sleep easier if I knew more was standing between you and Neo than an old maid." Cardin said.
"Let - him - do - it." Neo told me. "We - have - plenty - of - rooms - and - I'm - don't - want - her - to - be - our - only - guests."
"Alright you can stay." I told Cardin, I was really going to have to warm up to the fact that I was a person who needed protection now. I wondered if Roman was ever given the same treatment.
"And - that's - enough - business - talk - for - the - night." Neo told me. "We're - supposed - to - be - on - a - date - after - all."
I smiled at her and nodded. "Alright… and it is too late to say you look amazing tonight?"
She smiled. "About - an - hour - too - late. But - I'll - forgive - you."
I smiled. "Thanks."
Cardin stopped the car outside of the theater and the valet opened the door. I offered Neo my hand out of the vehicle and walked into the theater with her holding my arm and feeling as well as I could. We suspended all talk of business for the rest of the evening, but it was hard for me to forget that a new player had entered this game of mine. A new dangerous one that could very well be a new powerful ally if I used her right.
As I watched the dancers on that stage twirl and dance about with unmatched grace I couldn't stop myself from considering what I would do with this new ace up my sleeve.
Author's Note:
I hoped you all enjoyed this week's chapter. Back when Jaune saved Tukson and the rumors about Sienna's death first got around a lot of you figured that she would be drawn into the conflict. Well a lot of you were right and now you get to brag about it. I have been looking forward to this chapter for a very long time now, especially how it relates to Bruce and his past in the White Fang and how this detail will change the coming battle. I hope you like my interpretation of Sienna, her limited screen time didn't give me too much to work with but I figured she's a pragmatist that would do whatever it took to stop Adam. Tukson I also imagined as a person who still held loyalty to the Fang but simply wanted to leave because he refused to engage in wholesale slaughter. And the change of events has left them seeking Jaune's help as he plots against Adam.
I hope I'm also giving you a good look into Jaune's duties as acting Don and that I'm keeping it interesting. The higher you climb that ladder the further away you are from the dirty work. I at least hope that all this political maneuvering is holding your interest well enough. Not that this story is finished with it's action, there is still plenty of action to come.
And as always I need to thank my committee for all their help and support making this story what it is. So thank you MidKnightMoonglow99, MajorBrony95, TheSlySage, Cyperink, CrypidCobra, Firefly25, BigBrain411 and DrknssRules1 for all their help and support beta reading and giving me ideas to work with. And thank you Rak-Vojak for translating this story into Russian despite the recent horribleness.
And to my handful of Ukrainian readers I hope you stay safe in these trying times.
See you all next week.